Further Study:Read Ellen G. White, “Teaching and Healing,” pp. 139-160 in The Ministry of Healing; “Source and Aim of True Education, pp. 13-19; “Relation of Education to Redemption,” pp. 28-30 in Education.
Many of the principles of healthful living found in the writings of Ellen White already were taught in a limited way by other health reformers of her day. But in their teaching we find many errors and extremes that Ellen White avoided because of the instructions she received from God. For example, Sylvester Graham and James Jackson, two prominent health reformers in Ellen White’s day, both taught “Don’t eat salt.” Ellen G. White, however, wrote, “I use some salt, and always have, because salt, instead of being deleterious, is actually essential for the blood.”—Testimonies for the Church, vol. 9, p. 162.
Other errors that were taught by health reformers in the nineteenth century and that Ellen G. White avoided included: do not cut your hair; do not drink water–get your liquids from fruit only; when eating meat, eat mostly the fat; overweight people are healthy people; do not use soap, etc. (see Leonard Brand and Don S. McMahon, The Prophet and Her Critics, pp. 77, 78).
Discussion Questions: 
As a class, go over your answer to Monday’s final question.
We now live in the day and age of science, where for many people science is the only way to know truth. How interesting that of all the things we teach (the Second Coming, salvation by faith, the state of the dead, etc.), only one can be verified scientifically: our health message. Dwell on the implications of that thought.
As Seventh-day Adventists we insist, and rightly so, that all our doctrines need to come from the Bible and the Bible only. At the same time, if we believe that Ellen White manifested the gift of prophecy, shouldn’t weight and credence be given to her writings on doctrine, as well? How do we find the right balance in how we use her writings to deal with theological issues?
As with the Bible, there are things about Ellen White’s writings that we don’t understand. How can we protect ourselves from getting into the deadly mode of focusing only on the problems or concerns, and missing the greater picture?
| I N S I D E Story | ||
| Moans in the Night by JAMES APPEL Wails and moans cut into the evening's silence. These sounds of mourning come from just beyond the hospital wall. Allawaye lives there. His third wife's baby was recently hospitalized for meningitis. After a course of antibiotics he was sent home eating and with no fever. But three days later Allawaye brought him back, feverish again. The bacteria in his body is resistant, and we have no other antibiotics to treat it. The next morning Allawaye returned to the hospital. The baby is better, but not well enough to go home. I explain that the baby is still sick and could still die. One of Allawaye's wives speaks in a low, threatening tone. "We will take the baby home. Your treatments have not worked, and it's time to consult a witch doctor." I explain why the child must stay in the hospital, and Allawaye agrees to finish the treatment. I offer to pray for the baby, and the family agrees. I plead with God to prove that it's not witchcraft that has made the child sick and ask Him to heal the child. We've done all we can with our limited medical supplies, and now we need a miracle. The wails next door tell me that God has not intervened. Most people in this area believe that disease is caused by witchcraft, that someone has cast a spell on them. They seek treatment from the "traditional" healers the witch doctors and come to the hospital only when the patient is nearly dead. Then, if the patient dies, it's our fault. My frustration rises with the wailing. How does one fight, not just against the forces of physical disease in a resource-poor setting, but against the forces of ignorance and evil? I've tried to give patients hope, to encourage them to fight, only to hear family members tell them that they are going to die. The sick person loses hope and eventually dies, at least in part because of the psychological attacks of their family. Nothing I've experienced in Tchad even comes close to that for discouraging. I light my kerosene lamp and open my Bible to John 3:19. "Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil" (NIL). I understand God's dilemma. He can't mess with free will. Satan can use fear, superstition, manipulation, coercion, and brutality, but God won't. And because I've aligned myself on God's side, I can't use force either. Sometimes I'd like to shake parents who wait to bring their child to the hospital half dead instead of when they first get sick. It's true: People do love the darkness rather than the light. There's nothing we can do except continue to fight, continue to pray. Maybe one or two will see the light and come out of the darkness.
JAMES APPEL is a missionary doctor serving in Tchad, central. Africa. | ||
| Produced by the General Conference Office of Mission Awareness. email: info@adventistmission.org website: www.adventistmission.org |
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